VISTA: Homeless parking lot to end Sunday

Homeless people who had been parking overnight outside a Vista church will have to find another place to sleep after Sunday night.

Teresa Smith, chief executive officer of Dreams for Change, issued a press release Friday afternoon stating that the parking program at Cornerstone Christian Church had been suspended because of potential fines from the city of Vista.

Dreams for Change started the program at Cornerstone about three weeks ago, but last week the city ordered the program shut down because it violated a special-use permit that had been granted to the church to allow it to operate in a residential area.

Amending the permit to allow the homeless program would require a public hearing and an application fee of about $2,000, according to the city.

Smith said she will try to reinstate the program sometime in the future.

"We are continuing to explore all options to bring the safe parking program back to the North County community where the need has been demonstrated since we opened just over three weeks ago," she wrote in the press release.

Cornerstone Christian Church will hold a barbecue for participants, parishioners and neighbors on Sunday afternoon, and community members are welcome to visit to show their support, she said. Smith was not sure what time the barbecue would start.

The church is at 1010 Crest View Road in Vista.

Smith said the city has told the church that had mailed it a notice of a $100 fine, but as of Thursday it still had not arrived.

While that fine was not substantial, Smith said the city has indicated it would continue to fine the church and the amount would increase if the program continued.

Besides the fine from the city, Dreams for Change and the church were also the target of a demonstration last Sunday by Solutions for Change, a Vista-based organization that provides shelter and programs for homeless people.

Members of Solutions for Change said they objected to the program because it does not go far enough in address homelessness.

Dreams for Change has operated another parking lot for homeless people in San Diego for almost two years and has not been cited by that city, Smith said.